Sunday, September 15, 2013

Disney Trip Report: Day 1

Many of you know that Ben (my husband) and I have been planning a trip to Disney for mid-September. What some of you may NOT know is that we actually bumped our trip up 9 days and just got back a few days ago. It was one of the best weeks of my life and I am SO happy that we bumped it up! I plan on sharing each day with you in a separate trip report with a special post recapping all of the tips at the end. I hope you come back for some great pictures, funny stories, and GREAT tips (which will be preceded in each post by a *)!

Day 1: Travel

Our trip planning first started in August 2012. We were graciously given a week at any Disney World Resort as a wedding gift by two of our great friends. We had originally planned to use it as a honeymoon, but the time constraints of Ben's schedule at the time would not allow that. Months and months went by and we still had not booked our trip. Then one date night in mid-May, we decided to just do it! So we picked out our dates (September 14-20, 2013) and the next day our trip was booked. We were so excited to stay in a suite at the Animal Kingdom Resort with a Savanna view. I IMMEDIATELY took to Pinterest and started planning our trip. *(I cant wait to share some of my favorite planning posts with you at the end of this series! )

The countdown calendar I made for our trip. Click here for how I made it!

Then, the night that was set to be 10th day before our scheduled trip, we decide that work schedules would not allow us to be gone at the time we originally planned. Rather than cancel our trip, we decided to move it up in order to go with the owners of our company and another family that shoots for us (Ben works for a bow manufacturer, Ben Pearson Outdoors). So after a scramble to pack and IMMENSE luck in getting the room we wanted reserved, we packed up the hummer the next day and headed off to Disney.

We were so excited to leave 9 days early!

And after seven long hours in the car, we were finally there!

2. The view as you drive onto the property.

We were lucky enough to stay at the Kidani Village at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Our room overlooked the animal enclosure and it was so beautiful to wake up to every day! The theming in the room was way more than what I expected-Disney thought of every detail, even down to the doors they used inside the suites. Here are some pictures of our amazing resort.

3. The sign outside our resort.

The sign over the door to the villas.

1. The view from the drive up to our resort.

1. The wall that outside the front entrance.

1. The view from the back of the lobby towards the front door.

1. The view out the back of the lobby.

Our room number!

3. An aerial view of our resort. The "E" shape on the left is the Kidani Village, and the "U" shape on the right is Jambo house.

1. The view from the front door into our living room.

1. Our bedroom! Amazing king-size bed!

The towel animal that housekeeping had for us.

3. This bathroom was amazing. It felt so luxurious and it was OURS for the week!

We did not go to the parks on this day, so I dont have any real tips to give you for today's report. The one thing I will say is that if you are going to celebrate anything: TELL THEM. They are so great about giving you special treatment. They gave us "Happy Anniversary" buttons that we wore every day in the parks and LOVED the special attention we got because of them. In addition to the buttons, by the time we had arrived at our room after checking in, we had a happy anniversary message from MICKEY AND MINNIE themselves on our phone! It was so special and something that will make us smile for years to come!

Stay tuned this week for the trip reports from each day with some special tips I learned along the way!